Enna Jimenez Being Afro Latina in Corporate Culture Helping others Level Up S1E3

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Vergi Rodriguez and this is A Race Of Your Own where we have discussions around inspiration that lead to resilience.

[00:00:10] And so today's guest is a published author, a speaker, a Latina influential leader. She's a change champion.

[00:00:18] She has a career spanning over 30 years across a variety of industries from leadership, technology and transformation management, which I totally want to talk about what transformation management is.

[00:00:30] She got the Hispanic Lifestyle 2022 Latinas of Influence Award in 2021, was celebrated as one of the Latinas to watch from the American Association of Latino Professionals.

[00:00:43] And in 2019, the Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, gave her a citation for leadership and excellence.

[00:00:51] Welcome, Enna Jimenez.

[00:00:53] Thank you so much. It's why I'm humbled and excited to be here.

[00:00:58] So thank you for reaching out and connecting. And I'm super excited for this conversation today.

[00:01:03] Yeah, I'm excited to have you. I mean, that's just a couple of accolades.

[00:01:08] I was going through your list and I was like, ah, I, I, we could spend a whole 20 minutes just talking about the accolades because you just, that's just a few.

[00:01:18] There's so much more. How, you know, tell me about you.

[00:01:21] So I just want to know about you, your story, where you come from.

[00:01:25] Like, like, tell me about you and we'll dig in deeper into more of that.

[00:01:29] Well, thank you. Of course.

[00:01:30] So first and foremost, I was born in Puerto Rico.

[00:01:33] My parents are from Dominican Republic.

[00:01:34] And, you know, we moved from Puerto Rico to Boston, which is where I've been for over 40 years now.

[00:01:40] And since that time, you know, moving into Boston, my parents instilled in us this sense of community, of belonging, of making sure that we knew, you know, our church family, our community, like just connecting.

[00:01:54] And so from an early on, I always had this sort of vision or of helping others and giving back.

[00:02:00] And so I share that because that's really what has really led me through my entire career.

[00:02:06] I went to an all-white girls private school in Boston, Simmons University.

[00:02:11] I graduated from there, computer science and Spanish, and then went into technology, a whole different world.

[00:02:19] I mean, talk about being in a community setting where everybody that was around me was like me, right?

[00:02:25] And then I went into the university where I was not the norm, right?

[00:02:32] And then from there, going into technology where, again, you didn't see a lot of women in technology back then.

[00:02:39] And so I often found myself in places where I needed to reinvent myself, where I needed to fight for my voice to be heard, where I needed to just push through to accomplish all the different things that I wanted to do.

[00:02:51] And so that type of drive is what has allowed me to grow in my career.

[00:03:00] The day that I became vice president for the very first time, my family and I had a huge celebration.

[00:03:06] I was the first in the family to have received such a level rate.

[00:03:10] And so that was big.

[00:03:12] That meant so much.

[00:03:14] And then you kind of fast forward to the fact that, well, how did I start to give back?

[00:03:19] It was really just through the mentors and sponsors that were around me who helped me throughout all of my challenges that allowed me to always say, you know, to always just be like, it's important for me to help others.

[00:03:33] I can't just keep moving forward without helping others moving along with me.

[00:03:38] And so I did that.

[00:03:39] I did that.

[00:03:40] And because I did all of that work and I did it just giving of myself, years later, I mean, I have been recognized for doing stuff that I honestly just did it out of the love of my heart.

[00:03:54] Because for me, it was important to just always help other people.

[00:03:58] There's that.

[00:03:59] It's a beautiful story.

[00:04:00] And, you know, it's also, you know, being in Hispanic Heritage Month this month.

[00:04:06] What a great testament to, you know, your journey, literal journey from little Anna, you know, being born in Puerto Rico, Dominican parents, going to Boston, you know, through this education and then finding your way through tech and technology, becoming this vice president.

[00:04:24] What a resilient story for sure.

[00:04:26] And, you know, a lot of what happens and what I talk about on the show, being in a race of your own.

[00:04:32] You're in your own race, the valleys, the peaks, the tumbleweed times.

[00:04:36] You know, I talk about that.

[00:04:39] You know, what was that like finding yourself in a space like tech and being like, I'm only me.

[00:04:49] I don't see anybody else that looks like me in this space, right?

[00:04:52] Being in that space and finding yourself there.

[00:04:54] What was that like for you and just kind of keeping your head down and doing the work?

[00:05:00] Yeah.

[00:05:01] And I'm glad you asked that question.

[00:05:03] I don't always get a chance to talk about this part of my journey, you know, kind of really going back to the beginning.

[00:05:10] You know, I will say that I'm a people's person, right?

[00:05:14] And so I would walk into any organization.

[00:05:15] I would walk into any company and be like, you guys are going to get to know me because, you know, this is who Anna is.

[00:05:21] I'm going to walk in those doors and be like, I'm here.

[00:05:24] I'm right.

[00:05:25] Dominica, not al fin.

[00:05:25] Dominica, not al fin, right?

[00:05:27] Right?

[00:05:28] So I always had this bubbly part of me and that allowed other folks to see me.

[00:05:34] They didn't necessarily know me, but they would see me and they would see this person.

[00:05:38] And so there were moments where I can sense shifts in room.

[00:05:44] It's like, oh, she's here.

[00:05:46] You know what I mean?

[00:05:47] And at first I didn't quite know whether that was a positive thing or a negative thing.

[00:05:51] Honestly, I was a bit of oblivious a bit of it as well because it was just like, well, I'm going to be here no matter what.

[00:05:58] I'm here.

[00:05:58] Right?

[00:05:59] Hello.

[00:05:59] Yeah.

[00:06:00] And so, but I think slowly I started to just be more conscious about the fact that I am in these rooms.

[00:06:08] I am in these spaces.

[00:06:10] I'm educated.

[00:06:12] You know, I read so many books when it came to my craft of becoming that subject matter expert that it was, I didn't allow others to make me feel that I was not knowledgeable enough.

[00:06:24] And that is a complete mindset, mindset shift.

[00:06:28] And I think because I learned that early on, I was able to use that throughout the rest of my career.

[00:06:34] Now, don't get me wrong.

[00:06:35] That doesn't mean that I did not experience any issues.

[00:06:37] Right.

[00:06:38] Plenty right through my every single job that I've been at.

[00:06:42] You know, like you said, you know, peace and valleys, good days, bad days, great managers, amazing managers, not so good managers.

[00:06:51] And all of that has allowed me to really figure out how, you know, just who is Anna and how do I stand out and how do I use my voice for good?

[00:07:00] And so because I was able to kind of understand my role in some of these rooms early on, I think I made really good use of when I was in those rooms speaking for others.

[00:07:13] And that's still the lessons that we need to be able to continue to do more of that today, which is when we are in a room, are we using our voice to truly educate those that are in the room that don't know about our culture to make sure that they understand?

[00:07:30] No, this is what it's like to talk to someone that comes from Puerto Rico or Santo Domingo versus to talk to someone that comes from Central America or Venezuela.

[00:07:38] It's slightly different.

[00:07:40] You can't talk to all of us the same way.

[00:07:42] How do you know that?

[00:07:43] Well, you just have to experience it and learn it.

[00:07:45] But people don't know that.

[00:07:46] So I took on the role of educating people about that.

[00:07:50] So all of that has been part of what, you know, I don't know how things got started.

[00:07:56] When you retrospectively think about it, you know, and I've talked to other guests about this, too.

[00:08:02] It's like, did you realize, you know, now?

[00:08:05] Well, now probably it's clear.

[00:08:06] But at the time, it's like you're really leading.

[00:08:09] You're leading the way.

[00:08:11] You're leading the conversation in like, hey, you know, this is who I am.

[00:08:16] But I'm a representation.

[00:08:18] I really am a representation.

[00:08:19] And I know I saw, you know, this, you know, transformation management.

[00:08:25] And I was like, what is that?

[00:08:27] I want to know what that is.

[00:08:28] Can we talk about that?

[00:08:30] Because everybody uses also DEI and like diversity and like all this stuff.

[00:08:34] But like there's that title right there says a lot to me.

[00:08:39] So I just I kind of want to hear it.

[00:08:40] It does.

[00:08:41] And it's just more recent that I've used that title.

[00:08:45] You know, I have become an accomplished executive leader in the quality assurance space.

[00:08:51] So and throughout the various organizations that I've worked on, I've been able to mature

[00:08:55] the organizations from where I from the first day that I started to the day that I left,

[00:09:00] maturing them in the sense of increasing quality, increasing, you know, the process.

[00:09:06] Right. So process improvement, team engagement, team morale.

[00:09:10] Right. I'm really big on building a team.

[00:09:13] And so I spent a lot of time doing that.

[00:09:15] And so in my last roles, I was able to then pivot and use that same experience to help

[00:09:22] outside of my normal quality assurance sort of trajectory that I've been doing.

[00:09:29] And so that's where the transformation came in.

[00:09:31] So my last organization, I came in and we did an entire engineering transformation, which

[00:09:37] that means is we took I think it was over 400, you know, employees in this one division,

[00:09:45] educated them in a particular methodology that we wanted to apply.

[00:09:50] And again, in technology, techie terms, right, is that we introduced a safe, agile methodology,

[00:09:56] trained them, you know, divided the teams, make sure that everybody knew how we were going

[00:10:01] to execute against these products.

[00:10:03] And so that transformation led to this exact same team.

[00:10:08] It would take them anywhere from 12 to 18 months to deliver a project.

[00:10:12] We brought that down to six to nine months.

[00:10:14] Wow.

[00:10:14] So you can imagine the RIs.

[00:10:16] There's a transformation.

[00:10:17] And that was a transformation.

[00:10:18] There's a transformation.

[00:10:18] And so then they were like, OK, that was pretty cool.

[00:10:21] Awesome.

[00:10:21] Do the same thing on this other department.

[00:10:23] Do the same thing on this other department.

[00:10:24] And then the final thing was do the same thing in a completely different business line outside

[00:10:31] of technology.

[00:10:32] So it was really good to have the opportunity to take all of the experiences that I've gained

[00:10:37] in team engagement, team building, process improvements, introducing methodology to applying

[00:10:43] that to different departments.

[00:10:45] So that's a transformational change.

[00:10:47] That is amazing.

[00:10:48] That is amazing.

[00:10:49] And I know that, yeah, it boils down to ROI.

[00:10:52] Companies want to know about their ROI.

[00:10:53] They want to know what is that return on my investment.

[00:10:56] Absolutely.

[00:10:57] And I'm sure, I mean, you cut it in half.

[00:10:58] Yeah.

[00:10:59] I mean, huge, huge transformation.

[00:11:01] For the most part.

[00:11:02] So, I mean, that's just, I can just see you going in there and kind of like doing your

[00:11:05] magic and then be like, done.

[00:11:08] Now what?

[00:11:08] And they're like, oh, do this over here.

[00:11:10] And you're like, OK.

[00:11:12] Yeah.

[00:11:12] Do your magic.

[00:11:13] And that's, you know, we talk, I talk a lot about that as well.

[00:11:16] It's just like bringing our, you know, our magic in that sense, but also, you know,

[00:11:21] our knowledge, which is fueled by this passion of who we are.

[00:11:25] Right.

[00:11:26] Yes.

[00:11:26] And again, leading into Hispanic Heritage Month and what that means.

[00:11:30] What is Hispanic Heritage Month month, but also Hispanic heritage just mean for you?

[00:11:35] You know, when I think about this and I think there's a lot of people that say, well, we

[00:11:39] should be celebrated year round.

[00:11:41] Like why just a month?

[00:11:42] Right.

[00:11:43] I do.

[00:11:43] I don't stop.

[00:11:44] Exactly.

[00:11:45] Right.

[00:11:45] No matter what.

[00:11:46] I say this all the time, wherever we go.

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:49] Exactly.

[00:11:50] It's my family.

[00:11:51] You know, I say that.

[00:11:51] Represent 24-7, right?

[00:11:54] Yes.

[00:11:54] But I think the why we, it's important that we at least have this time and that we celebrate

[00:12:00] it because it's the one time throughout the year where companies are very intentional about

[00:12:05] elevating and raising visibility to especially their employees of, you know, who are their

[00:12:10] employees that come from Hispanic and Latin countries?

[00:12:15] And it's a chance for us to really share our message and to showcase the amazing work that

[00:12:22] we've been doing, right?

[00:12:23] Because oftentimes, as you know, who gets to be sitting these tables, who gets brought into

[00:12:29] these conversations?

[00:12:31] If the focus is not on us, then we get forgotten.

[00:12:35] That's the reality.

[00:12:36] I've been there.

[00:12:37] I know exactly what that's like.

[00:12:38] Unless someone is being like, oh, let's be intentional to bring someone that represents

[00:12:42] the Latino community or the black community, right?

[00:12:44] Because I'm an Afro-Latina, right?

[00:12:46] And so unless someone is being very intentional, then we get left out of that table.

[00:12:50] Also, I'll take it one step further to talk about the differences because I mentioned Afro-Latina,

[00:12:55] right?

[00:12:56] Oftentimes, people say, oh my God, we have all of these Latinos and Hispanics in the room

[00:13:00] and you look and you're like, well, those are white passing, right?

[00:13:04] And so I'm like, well, great.

[00:13:05] I'm excited that you have them.

[00:13:07] But what about the ones that look like me, right?

[00:13:10] And so, again, I go back, just going back to what you asked me earlier, how did I got

[00:13:14] started into all of this, right?

[00:13:16] The real reason why I got started in this sort of path of elevating and doing all of

[00:13:23] this public speaking is because I wanted my kids to have more role models.

[00:13:28] I thought about, I have great mentors and sponsors and I've been blessed to have had

[00:13:33] amazing mentors and sponsors in my career.

[00:13:35] But I thought, well, who's going to be that for my kids?

[00:13:38] And especially as we navigated conversations and I realized that they wouldn't necessarily

[00:13:43] connect with the people that I was telling them, well, there's this person, there's

[00:13:46] that person.

[00:13:47] They're like, mom, but they're not, I don't connect with that person.

[00:13:51] And it made me think, wow, if my kids think that these people that I'm sharing to them,

[00:13:56] they can't connect with them, I am failing them, right?

[00:14:00] So what am I doing to make sure that they have role models?

[00:14:03] And so that's why I kind of became much more intentional about saying, hey, we need to

[00:14:08] make sure that as much as we're elevating Hispanics and Latinos, that we are very intentional

[00:14:14] about elevating Afro-Latinos.

[00:14:16] So in all spaces that I'm at, I'm always saying, great, where's the Afro-Latinos on that list?

[00:14:21] Where are the black folks on that list?

[00:14:23] Don't come to me with a list that I don't see blacks and Afro-Latinos on there.

[00:14:27] However, I'm sorry that you haven't done your job well.

[00:14:31] If it's only one type of folks, you haven't done your job well.

[00:14:35] It's the same thing as different industries.

[00:14:37] I'm all about diversifying, right?

[00:14:38] We can't just have people from financial services.

[00:14:40] We can't just have people from marketing.

[00:14:42] You need a variety of people, government education, especially education, right?

[00:14:46] What are we doing with our teachers, right?

[00:14:51] We can spend hours on that as well.

[00:14:54] I love that you're doing that because we need more people like that.

[00:14:59] We need more people that are actually talking the talk and walking the walk and putting their

[00:15:05] money where their mouth is and saying, I'm Afro-Latina.

[00:15:08] And yes, I want to see more Afro-Latinas, but we also need to see more black folks in

[00:15:13] this space as well.

[00:15:15] And if there's a disparity, encouraging the other community that's not represented either,

[00:15:21] like vice versa.

[00:15:22] And I think that because as Afro-Latinas, because for me too, growing up, I wanted to

[00:15:28] be in entertainment.

[00:15:29] I didn't see Latinas that looked like me and they were always white passing.

[00:15:32] It was always a thing.

[00:15:34] And that's nothing against white passing Latinos at all.

[00:15:37] It's just what was being shown.

[00:15:39] So having more people, like-minded individuals that get it and go, yes, I'm in this space,

[00:15:46] but I'm not closing the door.

[00:15:48] Or reaching back is another really big kind of thing that I talk about here too.

[00:15:53] It's about looking back and being like, okay, I'm bringing you with me.

[00:15:56] I think you'd be great in this.

[00:15:58] I can't do this.

[00:15:59] And I do it all the time to friends or family or whoever.

[00:16:03] Whoever's like, hey, this project came across.

[00:16:06] I think you'd be great for it.

[00:16:08] I think it doesn't have to be this thing where it's like, well, no, let's close the door.

[00:16:16] And that leads to another thing you said earlier, which was about teamwork and employees and working

[00:16:21] together.

[00:16:21] And people like to throw that around.

[00:16:24] Excuse me.

[00:16:24] People like to throw that around a lot.

[00:16:26] But when it really boils down to it, it's like, I don't compete.

[00:16:32] I don't, you know, just sitting here, I've already learned what transformation management is

[00:16:38] and what that looks like and what that space is in techie terms.

[00:16:41] And I'm like, oh, I'm learning techie terms here.

[00:16:42] I know, I know.

[00:16:43] But really, like, you know, getting into a space and being like, we are a team.

[00:16:50] We're fighting for the same thing.

[00:16:52] We're going towards the same goal.

[00:16:53] Yes.

[00:16:54] There's really, I don't, well, you know, I did this and that and that.

[00:16:59] Great.

[00:17:00] I'm happy for you.

[00:17:01] Like, applause.

[00:17:03] I know.

[00:17:03] Amazing.

[00:17:04] I don't.

[00:17:05] I mean, I think it's so interesting that sometimes people feel like, oh, no, let me not tell that

[00:17:10] person about that because they're going to step into my world.

[00:17:13] And you're like, there is enough work, enough things for everybody in this world.

[00:17:19] I mean, there's, listen, there's space for everyone and we should never hold back on sharing

[00:17:25] the wealth.

[00:17:26] And that is something that I'm really, really big about when I learn about opportunities,

[00:17:30] when I learn about things constantly sharing.

[00:17:32] I get called, emails, texted about, hey, Anna, I'm looking for a job.

[00:17:37] Or, hey, Anna, there's this role opening over here.

[00:17:40] And I am like the connector, right?

[00:17:43] I'm like, oh, I just heard about this role.

[00:17:45] This person is looking.

[00:17:46] Let me connect you all.

[00:17:47] And this is honestly, that's part of how things started for me, right?

[00:17:51] When I was, you know, years ago, you mentioned Alpha, the Association of Latino Professionals

[00:17:57] for America.

[00:17:58] I was actually the president of the Boston chapter.

[00:18:01] And when I was president of that chapter.

[00:18:03] Yeah.

[00:18:03] Shout out to Boston.

[00:18:04] We're doing amazing things.

[00:18:06] Yeah.

[00:18:07] But when I was president there, one of the things that I did was really, it really became

[00:18:12] a networker and a connector.

[00:18:14] As I went around meeting with all these companies, hearing about opportunities, and I went around

[00:18:19] meeting with my members and hearing what they were looking, I was like, oh, my God.

[00:18:23] Connect the dots.

[00:18:24] Perfect.

[00:18:24] It's like a puzzle.

[00:18:25] When the puzzle comes together and you're like, isn't that the best feeling?

[00:18:28] It's the best thing.

[00:18:28] Like you make the connection and then it works.

[00:18:30] And you're like, yes, it worked.

[00:18:32] Oh, my God.

[00:18:33] I've made the habit.

[00:18:34] Okay, great.

[00:18:34] And you're like, I don't, oh, well, we'll give you an accolade.

[00:18:38] It's like, I don't care about the accolade.

[00:18:40] It's not about the accolade.

[00:18:41] It's just the fact that I made that happen.

[00:18:43] And two people, you know, an organization or a person, whatever, walks away, you know,

[00:18:49] whether that's better or higher or elevated, whatever you want to call it.

[00:18:53] And that's really what it comes down to.

[00:18:55] And now I have the pleasure of kind of coming full circle after being chapter leader, after

[00:19:00] being a corporate partner, sponsoring Alpha, and after being on the national boards.

[00:19:05] Now I'm an employee as chief development officer, helping to take this organization globally and

[00:19:11] nationally.

[00:19:12] Right.

[00:19:12] More, you know, like we're already national, but taking it globally and international.

[00:19:17] And it's for me, it's an honor to be in this role because as I mentioned to you, where my

[00:19:23] parents started, right, is so important.

[00:19:25] They wanted their kids to have an opportunity, which is why we moved to Boston.

[00:19:29] Right.

[00:19:30] And through Boston as both entrepreneurs working super hard, my mom started her own bridal

[00:19:35] store with like $100 to her name, had it for 33 years, retired from that.

[00:19:40] Making bridal dresses?

[00:19:41] Making bridal dresses in Boston.

[00:19:43] Super very well known, our store, you know, in the Boston community, Massachusetts.

[00:19:48] What was it called?

[00:19:49] Sonia's Bridal.

[00:19:50] Very well known.

[00:19:51] Shout out Sonia's Bridal.

[00:19:51] Yes, yes.

[00:19:52] We've now, she's now retired and we closed it down.

[00:19:55] But, you know, because of the importance and because my parents always look for opportunities

[00:20:01] for access, how do we connect people?

[00:20:04] This is how it translates so much for me in my new role now with Alpha, right?

[00:20:08] Because it's really about access.

[00:20:10] As you know, we were chatting about access in Hollywood, access in all the different industries

[00:20:15] and we can talk about a lot of different things where access is so critical.

[00:20:20] But at least I'm playing a role at looking at organizations and who are trying to have a

[00:20:27] bigger impact with the Latino community.

[00:20:29] And then so giving them access to that Latino pipeline and then the Latino community who's

[00:20:33] looking to have access to more companies.

[00:20:36] I'm sure you know this.

[00:20:37] You know that the Latino and Hispanic community is, you know, we're the largest, we're the

[00:20:41] largest minority, right?

[00:20:43] Yes.

[00:20:43] We're now the majority, right?

[00:20:45] And I always say this.

[00:20:46] We are and we are.

[00:20:47] Today, we're absolutely the majority.

[00:20:49] But companies that today are not being very intentional about, you know, communicating

[00:20:56] to the Latino as a consumer, those companies are not going to exist a few years from now.

[00:21:01] You know?

[00:21:02] You know, yes, I agree.

[00:21:04] I agree with that.

[00:21:05] But to the same extent, they know that there's a value in that dollar.

[00:21:08] Yes.

[00:21:08] And that's been like that for the last 20 years.

[00:21:10] Of course.

[00:21:11] Because, you know, they're saying the music, I mean, well, not music, but really the movie

[00:21:15] industry, like, you know, they're like, nobody goes to the movies.

[00:21:18] I'm like, well, I do.

[00:21:20] I like going to the movies, you know?

[00:21:22] But and if I do go and if I if I have family or friends coming in from out of town, it's

[00:21:27] like my mom, my uncle, my cousin, like their kids.

[00:21:31] It's always like 10 of us.

[00:21:32] Yeah.

[00:21:32] Right.

[00:21:32] And that's but that's Hispanic families are big.

[00:21:36] You know, we have grandma, grandpa, like to some.

[00:21:38] But Hispanics are one of the largest product consumers in the world in the United States.

[00:21:42] I mean, there's so many electronics because we're all there's always a party.

[00:21:46] Yes.

[00:21:46] There's always a there's always a wild diesel.

[00:21:48] Yeah.

[00:21:48] There's always.

[00:21:49] Yeah.

[00:21:50] So that's always just we're just we're that's our culture.

[00:21:53] Yeah.

[00:21:53] Whether anywhere in Latin America.

[00:21:55] Right.

[00:21:55] Dominican, Puerto Rican.

[00:21:56] Everywhere.

[00:21:57] Everywhere.

[00:21:57] And so that's why I said that.

[00:21:59] Right.

[00:21:59] Because I think that because we're the largest consumers of products, if companies are not

[00:22:06] being intentional to, you know, market their products to this large, you know, consumer

[00:22:12] base, well, who's going to consume their products, you know, 15, 20 years from now?

[00:22:17] I agree.

[00:22:19] But it's it's like sometimes they miss the mark.

[00:22:24] Oh, oh, yes.

[00:22:25] They miss the mark.

[00:22:27] Because it's.

[00:22:27] Yeah.

[00:22:27] And that's why people like you come in place, which is to be able to tell them, OK, we appreciate

[00:22:32] that you're trying to communicate to us, but you need to know how to communicate to

[00:22:36] us.

[00:22:37] Right.

[00:22:37] And one message is not going to reach the entire community.

[00:22:40] I did see an ad and I was like, oh, that's interesting.

[00:22:42] And they went to the Dominican Republic and it was Jordan.

[00:22:44] It was Nike and for Jordan sneakers.

[00:22:46] And they did, you know, the truck and it popped out and it was music and they were talking

[00:22:49] about it and they had like the Dembo and I'm like, great.

[00:22:53] Great.

[00:22:53] Because we know that they know it's hot.

[00:22:55] Exactly.

[00:22:56] Everybody has Jordans.

[00:22:57] I have Jordans.

[00:22:57] Everybody has Jordans.

[00:22:58] We got those.

[00:22:59] My kids have plenty of Jordans.

[00:23:00] I do not.

[00:23:00] Definitely.

[00:23:01] We support Jordans.

[00:23:01] I do not own a pair of Jordans.

[00:23:02] But they tapped in and they tapped in correctly.

[00:23:05] They did tap in.

[00:23:06] I saw the commercial.

[00:23:07] I was like, oh, they get it.

[00:23:09] Yeah.

[00:23:09] Yeah.

[00:23:09] They get it.

[00:23:10] They do.

[00:23:10] So I don't I don't think.

[00:23:12] And so, yes, that's where people like me come in and go, OK, let me show you.

[00:23:17] Let me tell you.

[00:23:17] Not that I know everything.

[00:23:18] And sometimes it works.

[00:23:19] Sometimes it doesn't.

[00:23:20] Sometimes I get too ambitious where I'm like, I'm like, well, we could do this.

[00:23:24] We could do that.

[00:23:24] And it's like, no, none of it works.

[00:23:26] And I'm like, OK, sorry.

[00:23:28] But I think I think just having conversations like this.

[00:23:33] Right.

[00:23:33] And having people like you with your organization, with Alpha, doing the work in that sense.

[00:23:40] And and knowing for me, knowing there's someone behind the scenes there that really gets it.

[00:23:45] And, you know, and I'm sure there's more.

[00:23:47] Of course.

[00:23:47] Of course.

[00:23:48] But, you know, I really that's why I like love having these types of conversations and opening it up in that sense.

[00:23:54] Yeah.

[00:23:55] We don't hear that.

[00:23:57] We don't.

[00:23:57] I mean, and do you know that, you know, by the year 2061 in every three women will be a Latina woman?

[00:24:02] Have you heard that?

[00:24:03] No.

[00:24:03] Yes.

[00:24:04] Isn't that crazy?

[00:24:05] Wait, what year?

[00:24:06] One in by the year 2060.

[00:24:08] And it might have been less now because this was last year's stats that I got.

[00:24:11] OK.

[00:24:11] But at least by the year 2060, based on last year's stat, one in every three women will be a Latina woman.

[00:24:17] Is that not insane?

[00:24:18] Wow.

[00:24:19] What do they do?

[00:24:19] Do they say like what the other two may be or?

[00:24:22] No.

[00:24:22] Well, there probably is out there.

[00:24:24] But again, that's the metric.

[00:24:26] That's the metric.

[00:24:27] It's like one in three.

[00:24:28] Wow.

[00:24:29] Yeah.

[00:24:30] And so it's like, oh, my God.

[00:24:31] Like, oh, my God.

[00:24:33] You know, when you go around the room, when you're walking around, when you're, you know,

[00:24:37] in any space that you're going to be in, that's what the future looks like.

[00:24:41] And this might be touching.

[00:24:42] We don't have to discuss this.

[00:24:43] But, you know, just even like, you know, I did a short film.

[00:24:45] It was about DACA recipients and dreamers coming to this country and little kids coming to this country.

[00:24:50] But what we're seeing now in immigration, you know, and coming up with an election year, and this is Hispanic Heritage Month, you know,

[00:24:57] there is starting to cause some strife with the Latino community.

[00:25:02] Right.

[00:25:02] And this was, again, one of the reasons why I wanted to kind of open these discussions because it's like, it's like we know, like, we still want to honor this country.

[00:25:12] We've all had opportunity here.

[00:25:14] Of course.

[00:25:14] We have family here.

[00:25:15] We've gone to school here.

[00:25:16] Got our education here.

[00:25:18] And it's like, you know, it's such a touchy subject.

[00:25:22] It's hard to kind of like know what that means.

[00:25:25] But it's like, you know, how do you think that's really going to affect like the Hispanic community that is here working hard, you know, and other communities as well.

[00:25:37] But, you know, where do you see kind of what could be a good solace to that?

[00:25:45] Yeah.

[00:25:46] I mean, I certainly don't have all the answers.

[00:25:49] You know, I think what I will say is I'm aware that we've got people in both camps.

[00:25:57] Right.

[00:25:58] And for various reasons, I think about the fact that my parents work really hard to create a better experience for me.

[00:26:06] And my brothers and sisters.

[00:26:08] And so because of that, I'm very thankful to what we've been able to get here by being in the United States.

[00:26:15] And that's something that I will never take for granted.

[00:26:17] Right.

[00:26:18] And I also understand that there are different opportunities from businesses point of view.

[00:26:24] Right.

[00:26:24] Those that are that are more leaning into a business that maybe there might be more benefits.

[00:26:31] It's one of those things that I think is personal.

[00:26:34] I think it depends on where you're at, what your values are and how you view the world.

[00:26:40] We know that there are the Latino community is the community that has started the most small businesses out there.

[00:26:46] And I think that that's something that needs to be thought about in these type of conversations.

[00:26:52] And what are the opportunities that are going to be out there?

[00:26:54] We know that we love to be entrepreneurs.

[00:26:56] We are we invent all kinds of things.

[00:26:59] So how are we going to be able to continue doing that successfully so that we can continue to just, you know, have our families grow.

[00:27:09] Right.

[00:27:09] Continue making sure that our families can continue to eat.

[00:27:12] Look, I'm aware and I'm sure you are aware as well that there are many families out there today in the United States that have, you know, they don't have a home.

[00:27:22] They don't have food.

[00:27:23] They don't have anything.

[00:27:25] Right.

[00:27:26] And so what about those people?

[00:27:27] Right.

[00:27:28] And so in the decisions and the thoughts and the decisions that we're making, how we're making sure that we're also protecting those folks, people who don't have health insurance.

[00:27:39] Right.

[00:27:39] I mean, how do we protect those folks?

[00:27:42] And as someone who just went through leaving corporate America, starting her own company and honestly, you know, went on unemployment.

[00:27:50] This is the first time announcing this.

[00:27:52] Right.

[00:27:53] Like went on unemployment and lived with and lived through that for multiple months and trying to be like making ends meet and be like, oh, this does not cut it.

[00:28:01] And trying to figure out how I'm going to have health care.

[00:28:04] I'm going to have health care for the kids.

[00:28:05] It was not easy.

[00:28:07] As someone who just experienced that in 2024, the what and the bills, the medical bills that I have now because of that experience.

[00:28:16] It's like, oh, my God.

[00:28:19] Imagine those folks who have had years of not having medical, you know, medical benefits.

[00:28:26] What do those bills look like?

[00:28:28] Do they just simply not go to the hospital?

[00:28:31] I mean, we could again is one of those things that I touch from very far because it is a very personal topic to different people.

[00:28:39] So my experience certainly is the fact that this world has given me the opportunity to be where I am today.

[00:28:45] And for that, I will forever be thankful.

[00:28:48] But we still have so much more room to go.

[00:28:51] And I don't know.

[00:28:53] It's going to be interesting.

[00:28:55] Yeah.

[00:28:55] Yeah.

[00:28:55] No, it's a deep it's a deep topic.

[00:28:57] And thank you for sharing that, because I know sometimes people, you know, just want to keep that facade up.

[00:29:02] So the authenticity of just wanting to kind of say that because a lot of people can relate right now.

[00:29:08] You know, as much as we want to floss, as much as we want to be like, oh, everything's great.

[00:29:13] It's like, no, no, we're in people are in the trenches right now.

[00:29:18] You know what I mean?

[00:29:19] And and let's be real.

[00:29:21] Let's have that discussion.

[00:29:22] Let's let's talk about it, because I think that that's where, you know, we can really start to build community.

[00:29:28] Absolutely.

[00:29:29] In that sense.

[00:29:29] It's so important for me.

[00:29:31] I show up as who I am.

[00:29:33] Right.

[00:29:34] And there are folks who will stop me in the hallway and be like, oh, my God.

[00:29:37] And I finally I see you on on social media.

[00:29:40] You know, you do all these things.

[00:29:42] It's such an honor to meet you.

[00:29:44] And I'm like, but I'm just me.

[00:29:46] I'm humbly me.

[00:29:47] You know, I am thankful for everything in the spaces that I've been given.

[00:29:51] And I try to share those spaces with so many other people because it's not about me.

[00:29:55] It's about making sure that I continue to open these doors so that other folks it's easier when other folks walk through those doors.

[00:30:03] That is what I'm all about.

[00:30:04] And it really comes across against most of the guests that I've talked about.

[00:30:08] It's all about them.

[00:30:10] There's something no matter who I talk about is something about reaching back is something about and pulling forward.

[00:30:17] Yes.

[00:30:18] And so because I feel like, you know, that's just kind of like you get to a certain point where it's like you got the accolades.

[00:30:25] I couldn't even read all of them.

[00:30:26] But you got the accolades.

[00:30:28] You know, you accomplished so much even just in your career that you're like, OK, well, you know, would I have wanted somebody to help me?

[00:30:37] Would I?

[00:30:38] You know, that would have been great if someone like Anna came along and said, hey, you know, hey, look, this company is looking for this or whatever.

[00:30:47] You know, I think you'd be great.

[00:30:48] You know, that's that does a lot.

[00:30:49] And, you know, I even think for myself, you know, I was a dancer, you know, and when I was training and a choreographer.

[00:30:55] And there were there were tons of dancers that I looked up to, tons of performers that I looked up to that that did that and opened the door in that sense.

[00:31:03] And I remember those people and some of those people are still in my life.

[00:31:06] To this day, we we've been able to build those types of relationships.

[00:31:09] And there's other mentors that I talk to that I turn to and I go, you know, I'm just stuck on this.

[00:31:15] And it's it's not even like I need your I need your financial help or I need anything.

[00:31:19] I just I just need insight.

[00:31:21] Exactly.

[00:31:21] I just need insight.

[00:31:22] I don't think for me, I think learning is continual.

[00:31:28] You don't stop.

[00:31:30] We might stumble.

[00:31:31] We might fall.

[00:31:32] We might whatever.

[00:31:32] And I think that the power of social media does that.

[00:31:35] Right.

[00:31:35] So if we start to share our stories on social media, you never know who you're going to inspire.

[00:31:40] Exactly.

[00:31:40] You know what I mean?

[00:31:41] There could be so many people coming to your page, watching your stuff.

[00:31:44] I was inspired.

[00:31:45] I was like, who's Anna?

[00:31:45] What?

[00:31:46] Who?

[00:31:46] I didn't know she did all this stuff.

[00:31:48] What?

[00:31:48] What's going on?

[00:31:49] And that's not the new website.

[00:31:50] I'm like I'm launching a whole brand new website.

[00:31:52] Wait till you see that one.

[00:31:53] Yes.

[00:31:54] And I didn't even talk.

[00:31:55] You're your author.

[00:31:56] You were co-author of the book called Extraordinary Latinas, Powerful Voices of Resilience, Courage and Empowerment.

[00:32:02] Yes.

[00:32:02] Talk to us about that.

[00:32:03] And where can we find that book?

[00:32:05] Absolutely.

[00:32:05] Absolutely.

[00:32:05] So you can find the book on my website, which is www.anahimenez.com.

[00:32:12] You can go there and purchase the book.

[00:32:14] And so but I was able to share, you know, a story about something that happened to me and how the resilience that I needed to pull.

[00:32:23] Right.

[00:32:23] It's like when you you hit rock bottom and how you pull yourself out of that.

[00:32:28] And at the moment when you're hitting rock bottom, you're like, oh, my God, I'm never going to get out of this.

[00:32:32] And being able to kind of go back and reflect on that and using those experiences as I continue to move my career forward.

[00:32:39] Right.

[00:32:39] Being able to go back and be like, OK, I remember what that was like.

[00:32:42] Let me make sure that I don't totally go there, although I have.

[00:32:48] Right.

[00:32:48] But but it's about making sure that I didn't stay there too long so that I can be able to bounce back.

[00:32:55] Right.

[00:32:55] And that's we all do that.

[00:32:57] Like everyone, every single person in this world has had some type of an experience that has rocked them to their core.

[00:33:04] Everybody.

[00:33:05] Right.

[00:33:05] And the.

[00:33:07] I think the the difference here is how long have they stayed in that low place and how long did they figure out that they had the will inside of them to pull themselves out of it.

[00:33:19] Right.

[00:33:20] And sometimes you need someone to look at you and be like, hey.

[00:33:24] You got this.

[00:33:26] You did not get here because someone gave you a path.

[00:33:30] You work super hard to get here.

[00:33:33] Go back.

[00:33:34] Lean into that.

[00:33:36] Right.

[00:33:36] Remember everything that you did to accomplish what you had accomplished and use that to pull yourself out of that negative place.

[00:33:43] And that's what I talk about.

[00:33:45] Sort of.

[00:33:45] That's that one of the story, one of the many stories because there is only one story.

[00:33:50] I've had so many.

[00:33:51] I always think of a scene because that's just what I do in life.

[00:33:55] I just think of scenes from movies that are like Moonstruck Cher when she slaps Nicolas Cage and she's like, snap out of it.

[00:34:01] Yeah.

[00:34:02] You know, it's like when it's like snap out of it in life.

[00:34:04] Just snap out of it.

[00:34:05] Just snap out of it.

[00:34:05] Sometimes you and you really it just it's the one scene.

[00:34:09] It's the one picture.

[00:34:09] I always think of it because we get you go really dark.

[00:34:14] It could get really, really dark.

[00:34:16] And and if you don't have people around you that can't pull you out of it, you somewhere somewhere along the line have to find that resilience.

[00:34:24] Yep.

[00:34:24] Within yourself.

[00:34:25] You know yourself out of that.

[00:34:27] And that takes a lot.

[00:34:28] It does.

[00:34:29] And it it it also is it I kind of compare it to, you know, recovery.

[00:34:37] I've never gone through recovery, but I have had family and friends that have, you know, and it's like recovery.

[00:34:42] It's like the steps.

[00:34:43] Yes.

[00:34:43] It's the step.

[00:34:44] Yes.

[00:34:44] Absolutely.

[00:34:45] The step.

[00:34:46] That's the next step.

[00:34:47] And, you know, and then and then once you're past that, right, your first year and you're sober or whatever, you know, and then it's like the second year.

[00:34:55] Yes.

[00:34:55] And then the third year, you know, because things happen.

[00:34:58] Life happens.

[00:35:00] It's like life is lifing, you know, life is.

[00:35:03] Yes.

[00:35:04] Yes.

[00:35:04] And we don't like it.

[00:35:05] And we don't like it.

[00:35:07] We don't want a life in life in that sense.

[00:35:10] Right.

[00:35:10] But, you know, and thank you so much for giving me your time.

[00:35:15] Like we like we could go on forever.

[00:35:17] We could.

[00:35:18] But, you know, I really appreciate it.

[00:35:21] You know, thank you.

[00:35:22] Tell everybody where we can find you, where we can follow you.

[00:35:25] How do we keep up with you?

[00:35:26] Yes.

[00:35:27] No, absolutely.

[00:35:28] Obviously, I'm on LinkedIn on Instagram.

[00:35:30] Pretty simple.

[00:35:31] Anna Jimenez.

[00:35:32] Very easy to find me.

[00:35:34] And then through my website, you know, Anna Jimenez dot com.

[00:35:38] And yeah, I mean, those reach out, connect.

[00:35:41] I love doing speaking engagements.

[00:35:42] I love talking about my journey and about, you know, how my journey through corporate America.

[00:35:48] Right.

[00:35:48] All the things that I experienced that we talked about resilience.

[00:35:51] Right.

[00:35:51] Right.

[00:35:52] Which you need to have a lot of to survive corporate America.

[00:35:55] Yeah.

[00:35:56] But, you know, more importantly, I love to just be a representation and know that there

[00:36:01] is a little girl out there looking up and saying she looks like me.

[00:36:06] I can be there.

[00:36:07] And that is why I am here today.

[00:36:10] Thank you so much.

[00:36:11] Thank you.

[00:36:12] And that's a race of your own.

[00:36:14] And I'm Virgie Rodriguez.

[00:36:15] Remember to subscribe.

[00:36:16] Subscribe.

[00:36:16] Thank you.

[00:36:18] Thank you.